Local control of optical absorption properties of glass using precipitation of gold nanoparticles via gold sphere movement driven by laser

Abstract Glass embedded with metal nanoparticles is a promising material necessary for optical devices because of its absorption properties associated with the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) of metal nanoparticles. We demonstrated that continuous-wave laser illumination of the metal sphere in glass migrates the metal sphere and dopes the migration trajectory. In this study, we have attempted to locally control the absorption properties of borosilicate glass via gold nanoparticle precipitation using gold sphere migration. The gold sphere was moved in the glass via laser illumination, and the gold nanoparticles were precipitated in the movement trajectory. The trajectory was colored in red and purple gradations because of the SPR of gold nanoparticles. The particle size of the precipitated gold nanoparticles and the absorption peak wavelength increased with increasing velocity of the gold sphere. The absorption properties of the trajectory depend on the velocity of the gold sphere migration, which enabled local control of the absorption properties of the glass.